On the Great Reset with the EU, things continue to move, if not between the EU & UK, at least inside the Labour Government.
At the end of February, the EU & UK signed a “cooperation deal on competition”. I find it hard to discover what this actually means but it gave Peter Kyle the opportunity to say that people want better, but the Government is not going very far. He is also quoted as saying that the British public are “not nostalgic” for the pre-Brexit past.
This was followed by a devastating and frank report from the House of Commons Foreign Affairs committee, published on a web page entitled, ‘UK-EU reset lacks “direction, definition and drive”’. It’s chairperson, Dame Emily Thornbury, is quoted as saying
“Sadly, we found that despite progress in some areas, the Government’s reset is languishing, suffering from a lack of direction, definition and drive. It feels as though we are on a journey with no clear destination. In many areas, the Government has failed to provide timelines, milestones, or priorities and it does not appear to have an ambitious, strategic vision for the UK’s new relationship with the EU.”
I was surprised to find, this report, of Maroš Šefčovič[1]’s speech, presumably to the March meeting of the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly[2] where he warns that closing the Erasmus deal is in danger, because the UK won’t agree sufficiently favourable financial terms for EU students to study at UK universities. This is symptomatic of the mean spirit in which HMG is negotiating the reset with every line item to be in the black inked “national interest”. Stella Creasy MP issued a short video, stating that the real prize is signle market compliance.
To succeed the UK needs to put more on the table.
On March 16th, inews reports, echoing the Times, that Tracy Brabin, an ex-MP and West Yorkshire’s Mayor, calls for a closer, frictionless trading relationship with the EU after having participated in a trade delegation to Europe. Two days later, Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, in an interview in Republica, reported in the Guardian calls for Labour to rejoin tha single market, and fight the next general election pledging to rejoin the EU.
Rachel Reeves returned to the City Business School to deliver the Mais lecture, the text is posted on gov.uk and it is reported in the FT, in an article entitled “Rachel Reeves to make new push for greater single-market access”. Having read the speech, this should be seen as the unique centre piece of the speech, but she certainly identifies a better relationship with the single market as a key desirable driver of growth. Reviewing what she said, she retains the rhetoric of Starmer, Simmons-Thomas & Kyle, she says,
“… alignment should be forward looking and durable, providing the certainty that businesses on both sides need to invest and grow. … There is also a strategic imperative for deeper integration between the UK and EU – in our shared need for greater economic resilience. So my choice, the choice of this government, is not to turn back the clock but to look towards a new and stable, future relationship.
One of the first replies to Reeves, was Anand Menon in the New Statesman, who says,
So Rachel Reeves wants more alignment with the European Union. Or so she announced in her Mais lecture yesterday (17 March). Cue commentators here going off on one, wondering if the Brexiteers will react, whether Leave voters will be concerned. Pro-EU voices retort that public opinion has moved on since the referendum and point to the increasingly clear economic impact of Brexit. What no one does is stop to wonder what the EU might think. This, unfortunately, is how we do Brexit.
It’s an important question to ask and answer.
The following week, Chris Bryant, the UK Trade minister made a speech, also reported in the Guardian calling for more ambition, and it reports that Sefcovic says the EU are still willing to offer a “Swiss Deal”, but I suspect the EU’s redlines drawn up by the reset agreement in May 2025 will not waver. The single market four freedoms are indivisible, the Court is the final arbiter, and the UK has to co-fund its agreements.
Sir john Curtice in an article, entitled, Sir John Curtice: Why Labour’s Brexit focus has shifted from Leavers to Remainers, writes of the electoral implications which is what we i.e. Labour Europhiles have always been told is the key reason for turning their backs on the EU and the party.
Will the pursuit of a closer relationship with the EU risk courting electoral disaster by alienating Brexit-backing voters? Or has the political front line fundamentally shifted so that it now makes political sense for Labour to change tack on Brexit?
He discuss polled switchers and concludes,
So, although Labour’s vote is currently down by nine points since 2024 among those who voted Leave, it has fallen by 19 points among those who supported Remain.
Over four weeks, a number of senior labour MPs and Mayors have reopened the debate, perhaps with the fear and influence of McSweeney diminished, this explains the new loquacity but it remains economistic and nationally selfish. We need to do more, the Govt needs to put more on the table, recognise that the May 25 Reset agreement together with the 2020 treaties are the start point of any and every new agreement. In my article, Brexit: reset or stall, I stated that
The EU have ensured the current treaties are confirmed and that any entrance to the single market includes dynamic alignment, CJEU judicial authority and financial contributions, in exchange, the UK have obtained agreement that the Commission will engage in pre-legislative consultation.
To get further politicians need to think beyond our wallets and begin to listen to our EU member allies and the solidarity, security and cultural benefits that membership of an ever closer union brings. I would also add that in debating this in the party, too many take the leadership line without recognising the number of times people have been put up to defend a line that’s already changing.
[1] The Commissioner responsible for Trade & Economic Security.
[2] I have not reviewed the documentation of this meeting as it took me by surprise unlike the December meeting. At the same/similar time, Stella Creasy has also issued a video clip arguing that the benefits of a Swiss style single market agreement are more important than customs union synergies and that the time required for complete adoption is not available and too hard. I am not sure I agree. …
